How to Recognize Mental Health Problems in the Elderly?

It is quite likely for the older adults to suffer from mental health problems, with the most common ones including depression, anxiety and severe cognitive impairment. It is difficult to diagnose mental health issues in any population, but they can be specifically tricky to point out in the aging adults. Mental health conditions not only lead to emotional and mental suffering but can also make it challenging for aged individuals to manage their physical health condition. Effective treatment is easily available for the mental health problems of elderly but before getting to that stage you must know how to identify the signs of these problems so you can get the support they require to relieve their symptoms and improve their life quality. A few signs that will help you recognize mental health issues in the elderly are as follows:

• Complete withdrawal from all kinds of social activities. Social isolation is one of the major signs of depression, anxiety and other mental health problems in people above 55 years of age.
• An increase or decrease in appetite is also a signs of an underlying mental health condition. Sudden weight gain or loss may also point out a mental problem in the elderly.
• Although majority of the individuals assume disorientation or confusion in the older adults as a symptom of dementia, this can also be a sign of psychosis or depression in the elderly.
• Unexplained physical signs, like shaking, sweating, muscle pain and tension, changes in bowl habits and digestive upsets can be considered physical manifestations of certain mental health issues in the elderly.
• Depressed or low mood, sadness, leathery and other major depressive symptoms that stay on for more than two weeks could suggest an underlying serious mood disorder in an aged individual.
• An elderly suffering from a mental health problem may sometimes lose the energy to change clothes, brush their teeth or bathe. However, there may be others who suddenly become quite obsessive about maintaining hygiene and staying clean. Such individuals indulge in personal hygiene activities excessively.
• When an aged individual starts losing interest in the activities they found pleasurable earlier, it could be a sign of a mental health problem like depression.
• Though it is not very common in the aged individuals, seniors with mental health conditions may increase their intake of alcohol and other substances, like unhealthy foods. They do this to cope with their mental problem and its symptoms.
• Sudden changes in sleeping habits, like difficulty sleeping or excessive sleeping may also indicate an underlying mental health condition.
• Different mood disorders like anxiety and depression may also lead to feelings of worthlessness, despair, emptiness, inappropriate guilt and sorrow in the elderly.

Majority of the individuals mistakenly believe that anxiety and depression are a normal part of aging but that’s not the case. There may be other reasons behind older adults being more susceptible to depression and various other mental health conditions. These include loss of a loved one; limited functioning that accompanies the aging procedure and chronic health problems. Such individuals can greatly benefit from the in-home care services of Vesta Elder Care. Serving as an all-inclusive healthcare organization, Vesta is completely focused on offering in-home care that helps the older adults with full recovery.